Hand attaching tool



United States Patent ff 2,997,715 HAND ATTACHING TOOL Romaine C.Chapman, Cheshire, Coun., assignor to Scovill Manufacturing Company,Waterbury, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Filed Oct. 11, 19,60,Ser. No. 61,937 7 Claims. (Cl. 1-31'7) This invention relates to snapfastener attaching tools, and more particularly, to hand attaching toolsadapted for setting complemental parts of a snap fastener upon a garmentor fabric support.

vThe recent growth of do-it-yourself practices, plus the marketing ofvarious kinds of packaged snap fasteners over novelty counters, hasbrought about an increased interest in home Iattached fasteners forgarments, in place of the usual buttons or hook and eye connections.Therefore, it is necessary to provide a suitable tool for attachingthese fasteners.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a simple home attachingtool which readily adapts itself to the assembly of the various pants ofa snap fastneer, as well as various sizes of fasteners. The constructionis such that all the par-ts of attaching tool are held together as aunit thereby avoiding the possibility of any pieces becoming lost o-rmisplaced, and also, permitting the user greater freedomv in attachingthe fastener parts to a garment because there are no loose pieces to beheld together while the fast-ener parts are being set.

Another object is to provide a home attaching tool of such characterwherein means is provided for registering the parts of a snap fastenermember in proper relationship to each other and to a selected positionon the support material.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent from thefollowing specifications and accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. l is ya perspective view of the attaching tool in open position,embodying my invention;

FIG. 2 is a central sectional view of the tool in closed position;

FIG. 3 is a -top plan view of the tool base;

PIG. 4 is a perspective view of the two upper leaves of the tool priorto their assembly with each other;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged View of the hinge portions of the two upper leavesin position for assembly;

FIG. 6 is an lenlarged view of the bearing recess of the base portion;and,

FIG. 7 shows la sectional portion of 4the die end of the tool with thesocket and prong ring elements in position to be clinched on a garmentsupport.

My attaching tool is designed to set laundry-proof snap fasteners upongarments, the fasteners being of the general type shown in the FentonPatents 2,131,347 and 2,724,162. The tool consists of three parts: abase 10, an upper leaf or punch 11 and -a lower leaf 12, all of whichare preferably made of a relatively hard plastic material but with somedegree of resiliency, such as nylon. The upper leaf 11 and the-lowerleaf 12 are hingedly connected to each other and to the base portion onthe same axis. The base 10 is in the form of a ilat elongated wedge thathas a square opening 13 through its wider end in order topermit theupper and lower leaves 11 and 12 to pass therethrough as a unit whenthey `are to be assembled to the base. A wall portion '14 projectsupwardly from the top surface of the base 10 and surrounds the opening13 on three sides leaving the side toward the narrow end of the baseopen -to permit the upper and lower leaves 11 and 12 to hinge thereinduring the operation of the tool. The opposed sides 15 and 16 of thewall porties are presided with bearing :17 and 1S in Patented Aug. 29,1961 ICC which the upper leaf 11 is hingedly connected as will bedfmcribed later.

in order to provide a hinging connection for the upper and lower leaves11 and 12, the lower leaf 12 has a reduced upwardly curved extension 19terminating in a transverse cylindrical portion 29, the latter extendingbeyond the width of the extension 19 to provide trunnions 21 and 22. Theupper leaf terminates in an enlarged barrel portion 23 at one end with aclearance space 24 therebetween to accommodate the lower leaf extension19. The adjacent walls of the barrel poition 23 are. formed `withbearing recesses 25 to receive the trunnions 21 and 22 of the lower leaf12. The bearing recesses 25 are connected to the periphery of the barrelportion 23 by connecting slots 26 that have, adjacent said recesses, arestriciton 27 of a cross dimension slightly less than the diameter ofthe trunnions 21 and 22 (see FIG. 5).

In assembling the upper and lower leaves 11 and 12 together as a unit,it is only necessary to align the lower leaf trunnions 21 and 22 withthe upper leaf barrel connecting slots 26 and insert them therein. Afterthe trunnions 21 and 22 contact t-he restrictions 27, a small amount ofadded pressure will cause them to snap past said restrictions and intothe bearing recesses 25, thereby making a secure hinged connectionbetween the upper and lower leaves. Should it be necessary todisassemble the upper and Ilower leaves for any reason, the aboveprocedute need only be reversed.

As best seen in FIGS. 1 and 4, the upper and lower leaves 111 and 12 areformed with tapering portions 28 and 29 and straight sections 30 and 31,respectively. The tapering portions 28 and `29 are shaped to more orless conform to the shape of the tapering base 10. The sides of thestraight section 30 of the upper leaf 11 lie in a comm-on plane with theopposed ends of the barrel p0rtion 23 -and from this bar-rel portionlare extended reduced pivot pins 32. If desired, lips 31a may beextended from the ends of the straight section 31 shaped to conform tothe barrel portion 23 and close up the gap made by the reduced extension19 of the lower leaf 12 and for the sake of appearance.

After the upper and lower leaves have been hin-gedly connected togetheras above described, they may then be assembled -to the base 10. Aspreviously pointed out,

recesses 117 and 18 are provided in lthe opposed wall por.

tions 15 and 16 of the base 10, and said bearing recesses 17 `and 18 arejoined by tapering guide recesses or channels 33 intercepting throughthe bottom of the base 10 (see FIG. 6). As noted in FIG. 6, thedimensions across the most narrow or restricted portion of the guiderecesses 33 is less than the diameter of the upper leaf pivot pins 32.

ln making the assembly of the two hingedly connected leaves to the base,the leaves 11 and 12 as a unit, are inserted upwardly, tapered endsfirst, through the square opening 13 in said base 10 as shown in dottedoutline in FIG. 2. `As the assembled leaves unit is drawn upward-lythrough the ope-ning 13, the pivot pins 32 are aligned with the taperingguide recesses 33 and are directed int-o the bearing recesses 1'7 and18, then forced through the restricted portion of said recesses intosnap locking engagement with said bearing recesses, thus completing theassembly of lthe tool.

In order to retain and set the general type of snap fastener elementsdisclosed in the above referred to patents, the narrow end of the base10 is formed with two die recesses 34 and 35 which serve to accommodatetwo different sizes of attaching prong rings, the smaller size of whichis shown in FIG. 7. The depth of the recesses 34 and 35 is sulicient toreceive the flanges of the ,prong rings without danger ot .having themsnp @in of position when inserting a garment support into the tool. Thefree end of the lower leaf is formed with two elementretaining openings36 and 37 slightly larger than the diameter of the base die recesses 34and 35, and are disposed in axial alignment therewith when the leaves'are in fastener assembly position so as to properly register thefastener elements with the prong ring in the base die recess. Theunderside of the upper leaf 11 adjacent its free end is formed with apair of downwardly projecting punch members 33 and 39 which are adaptedto align with the lower leaf openings 36 and 37 as well as with the basedie recesses 34 and 35. As best shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the bottom facesof the punch members 38 and 39 are suitably shaped or formed toaccommodate the particular shape of the fastener elements against whichsaid punch members engage during the fastener setting operation.

To consider other reinements of my fastener setting tool, it is to benoted that the pivot pins 32 and the bearing recesses 25 of the upperleaf barrel 23, as well as the trunnions 2l and 22 of the lower leaf 12,all have a cornmon axis so that the lower leaf openings and the upperleaf punches are swung in a common arc and in proper alignment with thebase recesses. Also, it is to be noted that the straight sections 3f)and 3l of the upper and lower leaves have a snug slidable or rotatableengagement with the adjacent surfaces of the opposed sidewalls and 16 ofthe base 10 so as to maintain the upper and lower leaves against anylateral distortion during the swinging movement.

As a further assurance that the fastener retaining features of thevarious parts of the tool are properly aligned, particularly Iduring thefastener setting operation, the lower base is formed with an upwardlyprojecting tapering alignment pin 40 that snugly fits into the sidewallsof a rectangular opening 41 in the lower leaf 12. The underside of theupper leaf 11 has a rectangular recess 42 to receive the terminal end ofsaid alignment pin.

As an example of how one type of fastener member, including a socketelement S and a prong ring P, may be attached to a garment support G,see FIG. 7. When a fastener is to be attached to a garment, the leaves11 and 12 are swung upwardly and a prong ring P is placed in one or theother of the die recesses 19 and 20, depending on the size of thefastener to be attached and, as illustrated in FIG. 7, preferablyshowing the smaller size fastener element. After the prong ring has beenplaced in the small die recess 35, the garment support G is positionedover the top of the prongs so that the prong ring is aligned with thedesired point for fastener attachment. The lower leaf 12 is now swungdown until it rests firmly against the garment support G. In thisposition, the opening 37 will overlie the die recess 35 and the prongsof the prong ring, as well as the garment material, will project a shortdistance in the opening 37. This not only smooths out the garmentoverlying the prongs to prevent puckering of the material, but alsoallows the user to see the exact position in which the fastener will beattached. The socket member S is now placed in the opening 37 over thegarment and prong ring and the upper leaf 11 is swung down until thebottom face of the punch 39 rests on the socket. To complete thefastener assembly, the top surface of the upper leaf over the punch 39is struck several blows with a hammer or the like, and causes the prongsof the prong ring to pierce through the garment material and becomeclinched within a suitable anvil portion of the socket member.

A pair of cylindrical recesses 43 and 44 are located on the underside ofthe opposed ends of the base 10 and directly overlying these recesses onthe top surface of the base are shallow conical depressions 45 and 46.Should it be desired to attach the setting tool to a table or workbench,serews or nails may be driven through the relatively thin web separatingthe conical depressions and the cylindrical recesses, thereby anchoringthe setting tool firmly in place.

While one form of the invention is shown and described, it is to beunderstood that the construction may be varied as to mechanical detailswithout departing from the spirit of the invention and the scope of whatis claimed.

What l claim is:

l. A hand operated tool for attaching complementary elements of snapfasteners to a support material, said tool comprising a base, an upperleaf and a lower leaf, means hingedly connecting said upper and lowerleaves to each other at one end, means hinging said upper and lowerleaves as a unit to said base, a die recess in said base adapted toreceive the first element of a snap fastener, said lower leaf having athrough opening therein adapted to align with said die recess andserving to position the second element of said snap fastener in registrywith the first element in the die recess of said base, and a settingpunch carried by said upper leaf co-operating with said die recess andsaid lower leaf opening for clinching the fastener elements through theinterposed support material.

2. A hand operated tool as defined in claim l wherein both of saidhinging means are in co-axial alignment with each other.

3. A hand operated tool for attaching the complementary elements of asnap fastener to a support material comprising a base, an upper leaf anda lower leaf, said upper and lower leaves having hinging means at oneend of such a character that said leaves can be hingedly connectedtogether by a snap action and permit said leaves to lie in parallelrelationship to each other, a bearing block having three sides extendingupwardly from said base, and means releasably and hingedly connectingsaid upper and lower leaves as a unit within said bearing block andpermitting said upper and lower leaves to lie in substantially parallelrelationship to the upper surface of said base, and fastener settingmeans in the free end of said leaves and said base co-operating witheach other to set fastener elements upon said support material.

4. A hand operated tool as defined in claim 3 wherein the hinging leaveshave opposed straight sides having a snug slidable fit within the sideextension of said bearing blocks to stabilize the hinging action of saidleaves relative to said blocks.

5. A hand operated tool as defined in claim 3 wherein said base has anupwardly projecting alignment pin and the lower leaf has a complementaryslot for receiving said pin.

6. A hand operated tool as defined in claim 3 wherein the hinging meansof the upper and lower leaves consists of an enlarged spaced barrelportion on one end of one leaf having bearing recesses in the adjacentfaces of said barrel portions, and said other leaf having a projectionon one end carrying opposed trunnions for bearing engagement in saidbearing recesses.

7. A hand operated tool as defined in claim 3 wherein the means forreleasably and hingedly connecting said upper and lower leaves as a unitto the base consist of pivot pins on one end of said assembled leavesand the opposed sides of said bearing block having bearing recesses witha guide channel leading thereinto with a restriction therein for causingthe pivot pins to be guided therethrough and into snap-lockingengagement in said bearing recesses.

No references cited.

